The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for initiating and terminating, automatically the winding and coiling of substantially endless cord type material, particularly wire about a two flange spool body wherein the wire is manipulated, with respect to the spool body in such a manner that its feeding, clamping, and tension during the initial phases and during the terminal phases occur automatically.
Apparatus for affecting the feeding of a wire to the spindle are known as single spooler devices. In these devices however it is necessary to intervene manually in the operating cycle at certain points. Such manual intervention is required at the end of spooling to sever the wire from the filled spool body as well as in the initial step of fixing and of tying the wire to the still empty spool body, prior to its coiling. In addition, manual fixing of the wire end of the completely coiled spool is necessary so that the coiled material will not unravel or become damaged during subsequent. transport. Apart from the fact that human operators are absolutely needed for these steps, since these measures must be carried out manually, the cost thereof is greatly enhanced by the fact that the necessary operators must be extraordinarily skilled and speedy, since long interruptions lead to considerable down time while inexperienced handling leading to excessive scrap and waste is extremely costly.
Moreover, a disadvantage of the known devices is quite evident in that they cannot be automatically programmed and controlled so as to continuously operate in successive cycles.
It is the object of the present invention to provide both method and apparatus by which the enumerated disadvantages of the prior art are eliminated and a smooth fully automatic operative cycle can be effected so as to increase production in a more economical manner.
By fully automatic operative cycle it is to be understood that with the aide of known spool changing devices, a plurality of spools can be filled successively without any operator intervention being required, except perhaps for the removal and mounting of the spool.